


Beautiful Dancer

by ThatNerdyCat15



Category: Free!
Genre: Dancing, Fluff, M/M, Poetry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-24
Updated: 2015-01-24
Packaged: 2018-03-08 20:49:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3222983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatNerdyCat15/pseuds/ThatNerdyCat15
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nagisa is secretly a dancer. He thinks he's not good enough, not beautiful. Rei thinks otherwise. Rei writes poetry.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Beautiful Dancer

   As Nagisa looked at himself in the studio mirrors as he danced, he thought of one person saying one word. He was thinking of the first time he heard Rei call him beautiful.

   He wished that it meant more. He wished that Rei would call him beautiful more often. He wished that he was beautiful enough to be called that. Because in his eyes, he wasn't. And when he got to a part of his solo where he looked at the mirror straight on, he just... Stopped. He stopped dancing and slumped down onto the floor, staring at his reflection. A sweaty, frizzy-haired, lanky boy stared back at him. That was all he saw. It was all he felt he'd ever see. Even worse, its what he thought Rei saw more often than not.

   "Beautiful, Nagisa. But why did you stop?" His dance instructor asked, walking into the space. Concern was knitted in his eyebrows, and he reached out a hand to the teen in front of him.

   "Its nothing. Is it time for me to leave?" Nagisa asked, taking the hand and rising to his feet, offering a familiar fake smile. Everyone bought it, at least that's what he thought.

   "Almost. I think you need to relax. Here, I've got an idea." the instructor walked out for a moment, returning with a portable speaker and his phone. Mr. Walsh, or Kiko, as he preferred, put the items in the very far corner of the room.

   "I'll put on Pandora, and you are gonna dance your heart out to whatever plays. Alright?" After a slow nod from Nagisa, Kiko pressed play and stood back, watching.

   The song that played was American, a One Direction song. "Best Song Ever." Nagisa knew this song pretty well, and decided that the instructor was right and he did need to relax. Letting the beat and the lyrics guide his moves, he freestyled through the song, dropping onto the floor when he finished, panting.

   "Nice!" Kiko complimented, and after a high five, Nagisa left the room, changing into his normal clothes before leaving the studio. He checked his phone and saw that he had a text from Rei.

  Butterfly Boy:

Hey, wanna come over tonight? Its Friday! 

   Nagisa: 

 Will there be food?

  He started walking towards Rei's before getting an answer. He didn't need one, he already knew the answer was yes. His heart was beating a little faster, thinking about Rei's house and being with Rei and... Oh, how whipped he was. 

   After a while, he finally made it to Rei's and found himself seated on Rei's bed like usual within minutes.

   *******

  "So I have something to tell you." Rei started, looking nervous. Nagisa tilted his head, curious.

   "I really like to write poetry. And its stupid, I know, but-"

   "Stupid? Rei-chan, that's great! Good for you!" Nagisa replied, interrupting Rei's babbling. The younger boy seemed relieved. Still, Nagisa felt a bit guilty. He felt like he should tell Rei about his dancing, but then if he did he knew Rei would want to see, and then he'd think he wasn't beautiful. And it was bad enough since Nagisa didn't think he was even that good anyway. But Rei was his best friend, and now he owed it to him.

   "Actually, I have something to tell you too. I've been in dance classes since I was six." Nagisa expected Rei to laugh. He expected him to think he was dumb. That wasnt the case.

  "Really? Wow, I had no idea. Is that where you dissapear to all the time?" Rei asked. Nagisa nodded, blushing at how intrigued Rei seemed. It wasn't a bad thing, of course.

 ******

   Four days later, Nagisa was back in the studio, still going over his solo, "Say Something." He would do great, and feel it, and be totally into it, but then he'd see his reflection and his confidence would fall away.

   "Ugh, what is wrong with me!" He whined, lying back on the floor. Kiko walked in, and he didn't even say anything. He just walked over to the corner and plugged his phone into the speaker that had been there since the last Friday. It had become habit that every time Nagisa got too worked up, Kiko would just play a random song and Nagisa would dance his heart out.

   This time the song was "All of Me" by John Legend. It was a song that Nagisa had been familiar with before, but hadn't really listened to. Now that he was dancing to it, he payed attention to the lyrics. He almost wished it was Rei who was singing. For the first time in a few days, he put everything into it, and when the song ended, he actually felt better. He looked up at Kiko, expecting a nod of approval and a smile as per the usual, but was shocked to see Rei standing beside the dance instructor.

   "R-Rei?!" 

   "I was in the area and I figured I'd walk you home after practice. Mr. Walsh let me in." He explained, shrugging. Nagisa felt heat rising to his cheeks, catching his disheveled reflection in the corner of his eye and feeling embarrassed that Rei was seeing him like this. Usually he was covered in water after doing something athletic when he was with Rei, making the sweat less noticeable along with his frizzy blonde hair.

  "You're really good, Nagisa. That was beautiful." Rei complimented. Nagisa looked back up, a look of disbelief on his face.

  "Really?!"

  "I don't lie." 

   Nagisa smiled at his friend, before excusing himself to go change clothes. When he was alone, he slid down the wall and buried his burning face in his hands.

   "He thinks my dancing is beautiful. Oh my god. He thinks my dancing is beautiful!" He chanted to himself. He felt better when he saw himself in the mirror while he was getting dressed. He felt ecstatic as he and Rei walked out of the studio.

  Things were a bit better now, but it wouldn't hurt if Rei called him beautiful again.

 


End file.
